History of Whitehall, (Washington County) New York United States of America

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Biographies:

George Frederick Wright, geologist, was born in Whitehall, N.Y., Jan. 22, 1838; son of Walter and Mary Peabody (Colburn) Wright; grandson of Enoch and Tryphena (West) Wright, and of Stephen and Ann (Wasson) Colburn. He was graduated from Oberlin, Ohio, A.B., 1859, A.M., 1862, and from Oberlin Theological seminary in 1862. He was a private in Company C, 7th Ohio volunteers, for five months in 1861, when he was discharged for physical incapacity. He was married, Aug. 28, 1862, to Huldah Maria, daughter of William and Augusta (Burrell) Day of Sheffield, Ohio. He was pastor at Bakersfield, Vt., 1862-72, and at Andover, Mass., 1872-81. In 1881 he returned to Oberlin as professor of New Testament language and literature at the Theological seminary, and in 1892 changed to the chair of the harmony of science and religion. He also served as assistant geologist in the Pennsylvania survey, 1881-82; in the employ of the Western Reserve Historical society in the survey of the glacial boundary across Ohio, Indiana and a part of Illinois, 1882-84 and in the United States survey, 1884-92. He was engaged during two vacations in tracing the terminal morain across the Western states to the Mississippi river, verifying his work of 1882-84; and spent a summer in Alaska, camping beside the great Muir Glacier, one of the loftiest of the Mountains being named Mt. Wright by a party of scientists four years after his visit. He also spent a summer in Greenland, where another mountain was named after him. He delivered eight lectures before the Lowell institute, Boston, Mass., 1887, which he repeated in Baltimore, Md., and Brooklyn, N.Y.; visited the lava field of the west in 1890; went to Europe in 1891, where he met the principal glaciologists of England; gave a second course of Lowell Institute lectures in 1892, on the "Origin and Antiquity of the Human Race," and a third on the "Scientific Aspects of Christian Evidences" in 1896. In 1900-1901 he crossed Mongolia, Manchuria, Siberia, Turkestan, Russia and Palestine to study the glacial phenomena of those regions. The honorary degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by Brown university in 1887, and that of LL.D. by Drury college in 1887. He was elected a fellow of the Boston Society of Natural History; of the Geological Society of America, and of various other scientific societies. He became chief editor of the "Bibliotheca" in 1883, and is the author of: Logic of Christian Evidences (1880); The Relation of Death to Probation (1882); The Divine Authority of the Bible (1884); Glacial Boundary of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky (1884); Ice Age of North America (1889); Charles Grandison Finney (1891); Man and the Glacial Period (1892); Greenland Icefields and Life in North America (1896); Scientific Aspects of Christian Evidences (1898); Asiatic Russia (2 vols., 1902).

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Harvey Denison Kitchel, educator, was born in Whitehall, N.Y., Feb. 3, 1812; son of the Rev. Jonathan and Caroline (Holly) Kitchel. He was graduated at Middlebury, Vt., A.B., with high honors, in 1835, A.M., 1858. He taught at Castleton seminary, Vt., 1885; studied at Andover Theological seminary, 1835-36; was tutor at Middlebury, 1836-37, and was graduated at Yale Theological seminary in 1838. He was pastor at Thomaston, Conn., 1838-48; of the First Congregational church, Detroit, Mich., 1848-64; of Plymouth church, Chicago, Ill., 1864-66, and president of Middlebury college, as successor to President Labaree, 1866-75, but during the year 1874 was relieved of the care of the office by Professor Parker, of the chair of mathematics and philosophy. He resigned the presidency in 1875 and made his home in East Liverpool, Ohio. He received the honorary degree of A.M. from Yale in 1865, and that of D.D. from Middlebury in 1858. He was a corporate member of the A.B.C.F.M., 1851-86. He was married, Aug. 20, 1838, to Ann Smith, daughter of David and Jerusha (Smith) Sheldon, of Rupert, Vt., who died June 1, 1858, and left six sons, of whom Cornelius L. became a clergyman. He was married secondly, June 25, 1863, to Mrs. Ophelia Gear (Kimberly) Sayre, daughter of Thompson and Deborah (Griffin) Kimberly, of Amherst, Mass., who died June 21, 1864; and thirdly, June 20, 1866, to Mrs. Harriet (Tyrrell), widow of William Riley Smith, of Milwaukee, Wis., and daughter of Truman and Aurelia (Morse) Tyrrell, of Lanesbore, Mass. He died suddenly while addressing an audience in Dansville, N.Y., Sept. 11, 1895.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor